Composers/Arrangers (N - P)

RANDY NAVARRE

Randy Navarre received his Bachelor of Music degree from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1973 and his Master of Music degree from Temple University in 1981. His major areas of study were saxophone, theory and composition.

Mr. Navarre has had works performed at the Temple University Music Festival, including a work played by the Pittsburgh Symphony. Several works have also been performed by the "Kapelle Woodwind Trio" at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City and throughout the Philadelphia and New Jersey area.

In addition to his performances as a classical saxophonist in the Philadelphia area, he is the founder and Musical Director of the Philadelphia Swing Orchestra. Mr. Navarre is currently the Director of the Northeastern Music Programs, an organization that provides band programs to private schools. He has taught for the School District of Philadelphia, Glassboro State College and Lehigh University.

RUSSELL NEWBURY (b. 1959) - bio coming soon

JUDY NISHIMURA (b. 1953)

A lifelong resident of Chicago, Judy Nishimura received her bachelor’s degree in flute from Northwestern University after studying with Walfrid Kujala. The next 30+ years were spent in advertising as a TV commercial producer. It was during those years that she started to write flute arrangements for a local flute ensemble. In 2000, a group of these arrangements was published by Music Makers, some of which were recognized by the NFA’s Newly Published Music competition. Later, in 2004, more flute choir pieces were written for Music Makers’ new owner, ALRY Publications. These included the popular “Magic Flute (in 5 Minutes)” and “Pictures at an Exhibition (the 5 Minute Tour),” a 2011 NFA Newly Published Music finalist. Music became a full-time vocation after Judy left the advertising business in 2006. She created nishmusic.com, a website to spotlight her compositions, and started a full-time music engraving business. In 2009, she was the proud recipient of a Paul Revere Award from the Music Publishers Association for engraving excellence.

WILLIAM NOLL

Conductor/Pianist, William Noll, is a performance veteran of the great concert halls of the United States and Europe. From Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York to the Spoleto Festival in Italy, Maestro Noll has firmly established his excellence in performance standards for over twenty-five years. In Atlanta, Mr. Noll has held positions with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Opera and the Choral Guild of Atlanta. Maestro Noll has many radio and television performances to his credit. His catalogue of commercial recordings continues to grow. He has recorded for Newport Classic, Time-Life, Intersound, and Sony.

Over the previous decade, Mr. Noll has presided as Music Director of the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, and SpecialEvent music continues to be his field of popular profession. Under his direction, both the Ritz-Carlton Orchestra and The William Noll Orchestra continue to receive outstanding raves and international invitations to perform. Mr. Noll and the orchestra members have played for scores of the finest social and corporate events in the country. Unique award-winning celebrations have been co-created with the specialists of the premier event designers of the nation. The William Noll Orchestra perseveres in providing dynamic music for magnificent weddings, anniversaries and holiday gatherings. The orchestra frequently accepts invitations for appearances at cherished venues throughout the region. In addition to Mr. Noll’s performance activities, he has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Georgia Council for the Arts, the Fulton County Arts Council and Vision 2000. As a resident of Atlanta for a quarter century, he continues to further the careers of performing musicians through the auspices of Mayfair Artists Representatives, a full-service music consultancy.

SANDY DUFFY NORMAN (b. 1955)

Sandy Duffy Norman is a flutist and teacher in Salem, Oregon, and a graduate of Louisiana State University. After earning a B.S.Mus. and B.M.E., she continued postgraduate work in education at Western Oregon University, was a band director for 15 years, and owns Sunridge Flute Studios in Salem. She has released five CDs since 2000 and has published six RoseWynde arrangements with ALRY Publications. Sandy has performed at three National Flute Association conventions, is on the Greater Portland Flute Society board of directors, and is a member of several regional and national associations. She lives with her three children, husband Jim, and three cocker spaniels.

NANCY NOURSE

Nancy Nourse is the founder/director of the St. Martin’s Flute Ensemble and is a music teacher at the Toronto French School. She received her B.Mus. and B.Ed. from Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario and M.Mus. from the Crane School of Music at Potsdam, New York, for which she wrote an extensive thesis title “The Piccolo.” She attended Trinity College of Music in London, England and was granted a Licentiate in flute. She also holds an Associateship from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto. A freelance performer, Nancy plays principal flute in the Toronto Community Orchestra and is piccolo soloist for the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserve.

STEPHEN OWENS - bio coming soon

ANN CAMERON PEARCE (b. 1945)

Ann Cameron Pearce is a private flute instructor in Raleigh, North Carolina. She also teaches at St. Mary's College and performs locally as a soloist and with various chamber groups. As co-founder of the Raleigh Area Flute Association and the Raleigh Flute Choir, she continues to enjoy planning programs for and playing with these organizations. She has undergraduate and masters degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University respectively and has studied with Mark Thomas and Earl Slocum.

CESAR PEREDO (b. 1965)

César Peredo is a Peruvian flutist and composer. He studied at the National Conservatory of Lima, Peru. Peredo continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany, under the tutelage of Michael Achilles, who was a student of Hans Peter Schmitz (principal soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra). He later studied privately in Los Angeles, California, with Arthur Hobermann, one of the most popular flutists in the Hollywood area. At the same time he was studying in Europe, he attended master classes and courses with renowned soloists such as Paul Meisen, Andreas Blau, Paul Meisen, Maxence Larrieu, Hans Peter Schmitz, William Bennett, Karl Heinz Zöller, Aurele Nicolet and others.

After returning to Peru, he studied composition with Celso Garrido Lecca and Enrique Iturriaga. In 2001, he won an honorable mention in a composition contest organized by the American Flute Association. He has performed and/or recorded with Zamphir, Placido Domingo, Joan Manuel Serrat, Juan Diego Florez, Dave Valentin, Nestor Torres, Il Divo, Orlando “Maraca” Valle, Eva Ayllón, Cecilia Barraza and others. He participated on the “Jolgorio” CD of Peru Negro, which was nominated for a Grammy award in 2005. As a classical music soloist, he has performed with all Peruvian orchestras, interpreting concerts for flute and orchestra, some of which had never been performed before in Peru. For 15 years, he was principal soloist with the Lima Philharmonic Orchestra.

LAURA PETTIGREW (b. 1954)

Laura Pettigrew received her Master of Music in Composition and her Bachelor of Music, majoring in composition, from the University of Regina (Saskatchewan), studying with Dr. Tom Schudel. As a composer, Laura is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, a member of the Canadian League of Composers, SOCAN, and the International Alliance for Women in Music. She has been the recipient of several awards, including most recently the 2009 Mayor’s Arts and Business Awards in the category “Living the Arts,” and has received numerous grants and commissions in Canada, the United States, and abroad. Several of her compositions are published by ALRY, including Offertoire, Legends, Winter Solstice, Spirits of the Land, Picc’in Suite, and Latar Semplice. As a flutist, Laura has performed with The National Flute Choir, as part of the harp/flute duo Reflections, in a flute/guitar duo, and as a soloist. She is a board member of the Regina Music Festival and volunteers her time fundraising for various non-profit organizations. As well as being a lecturer at the University of Regina’s Music Department, Laura maintains a large studio of private students. She currently resides in Regina and is the proud mother of two sons, Joshua (published poet) and Luke (musician and paralegal).

KEITH PETTWAY (b. 1941)

Keith Pettway is a Mississippi native: he was born in Carthage and grew up in Vicksburg. He holds the BM, MM, and DMA degrees, all in flute performance. Dr. Pettway has been Professor of Flute at Delta State University since the fall of 1980. During his tenure at Delta State University, he has gained an international reputation as both a solo flutist and teacher of flute. For the past twenty years, he has studied privately and in masterclasses with the great British flutist William Bennett.

For several summers Dr. Pettway taught "The History of Music in Vienna" through the University of Southern Mississippi's International Studies Program. The class was taught in Vienna, Austria. He has also taught numerous masterclasses throughout the U.S. and internationally, including Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. In 1994 Dr. Pettway released his first solo compact disc, Friedrich Kuhlau: Flute Sonatas (Centaur Records 2215). His second solo disc, Mississippi Classic, Music by Mississippi Composers (Delta Classic 0101), with pianist Lois Hobbs, was released in October 2000.

LENNY PICKETT (b. 1954)

Best known as the tenor saxophonist of the Saturday Night Live Band, Lenny Pickett is one of the virtuosos of the altissimo register.

The altissimo register is a technique almost seen as a requirement in today’s jazz environment. It’s based on harmonics and enables you to achieve notes above the normal range of the saxophone. For example, it is possible to finger a low Bb (the lowest note on the instrument) and by changing the configuration and position of the tongue in reference to the reed and throat blow the full overtone series of the low Bb (middle Bb, middle F, high Bb, high D, high F, and so on.) This technique can be heard clearly in the well known opening theme to Saturday Night Live.

Lenny says this about his equipment, in response to numerous inquiries: “I play a Selmer Paris Mark VI tenor (circa 1970) with a Berg Larsen 130 over 0 (SMS) mouthpiece and a number 3 Van Doren (blue box) bass clarinet reed.”

Pickett, born in New Mexico in 1954, is competent not only with saxophone, but also with flute and clarinet. After dropping out of high school in Berkeley, he spent a brief period studying under Bert Wilson, but amazingly, other than that instruction is entirely self taught on the saxophone. Not viewed as a traditional jazz player, he is best showcased in short bursts of color bringing the life of his horn to center stage in R&B and rock arrangements. He is well known for his funky style, and his ability to make the sax “scream.”

Pickett played with the Tower of Power horns from 1972 to 1981, and toured the world with the popular group. Tower of Power still tours extensively today, though without Pickett. They released multiple Top 100 albums over the course of Pickett’s career with them. Tower of Power played in many styles, from soul to funk to disco, and Pickett’s virtuoso playing felt at home in all of them.

LIDUINO PITOMBEIRA (b. 1962)

The music of Liduino Pitombeira (Brazil, 1962) has been performed by The Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, Louisiana Sinfonietta, Syntagma, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland), and Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (Brazil). He has received many composition awards in Brazil and the USA, including the first prize in the 1998 Camargo Guarnieri Composition Competition and the first prize in the "Sinfonia dos 500 Anos" Composition Contest. He also received the 2003 MTNA-Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year Award for his piece "Brazilian Landscapes No.1". Three more pieces of his series Brazilian Landscapes (No.2, No.6 and No.9) were awarded first prizes in the USA. Dr. Pitombeira received his PhD in composition from the Louisiana State University (USA), where he studied with Dinos Constantinides. He is a member of ASCAP, Society of Composer Inc., Associação de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Música (ANPPOM), National Association of Composers USA (NACUSA), and College Music Society. His pieces are published by Peters, Bella Musica, Filarmonika LLC, Cantus Quercus, Conners, Alry, RioArte, and Irmãos Vitale. Recordings of his works were made by Magni, Summit, Centaur, Antes, Filarmonika, and Bis labels.

STEPHEN POLLOCK (b. 1958)

Stephen Pollock is a founding member and tenor saxophonist of the New Century Saxophone Quartet. He was born in Wurzburg, Germany, and grew up in various cities in the United States and abroad. Pollock received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied with concert saxophonist James Houlik. He has served on the faculties of Davidson College, the Community Music School o the North Carolina School of the Arts, Catawba College, Salem College, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Wake Forest University. In the summers, Mr. Pollock can be found in Little Switzerland, NC, where he is Coordinator of the James Houlik Saxophone Retreat at Wildacres. Currently, Mr. Pollock is the adjunct Professor of Saxophone as well as Saxophone Chamber Music Coach at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.

GEORGE POPE

George Pope is Solo and Principal Flutist of the Akron Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Akron in Ohio. He received degrees from the University of Tulsa and Northwestern University. Mr. Pope has given numerous recitals throughout the United States, and is a member of L'Etoile Woodwind Quintet, PROTEUS, the Alborada Chamber Ensemble, the Garth Newell Chamber Players in Hot Springs, Virginia, and the Appling Chamber Orchestra. He records for Opus One Records in New York City. Mr. Pope is also a dancer and choreographer and is presently at work on a series of dances performed to solo flute compositions.

MARK POPE (b. 1973)

Mark Pope is currently a resident of Irving, TX, where he is Director of Music Ministries at Plymouth Park United Methodist Church. He earned his undergraduate degree in music composition from the University of Tennessee and his master's degrees in both sacred music and choral conducting from Southern Methodist University.

Mark has been involved in church music from a very early age and has directed music in Methodist, Baptist, and Quaker churches located in Texas and Tennessee. His love of flute music also was fostered in childhood, as both his mother and stepmother are flutists.

MARK A POPKIN (1929-2011)

Mark Popkin led a varied performing career which included engagements at the New York City Center Opera and Ballet, the New Jersey and Houston Symphonies, Symphony of Air, Musica Aeterna, Mostly Mozart Festival, Casals Festival and the New York Philharmonic. His chamber music activities included membership in the Clarion Wind Quintet and performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He is co-author with Loren Glickman of a noted bassoon reed manual and was on the faculty of the North Carolina School of the Arts.

MAURICE POPKIN

Maurice Popkin, pianist and composer, was an alumnus of the Graduate School of the Institute of Musical Art, now the Juilliard School. His post-graduate studies took place at Harvard and Cornell Universities specializing in musicology and composition.

GRAHAM POWNING (b. 1949)

Australian oboist Graham Powning was born in Sydney in 1949. He started flute lessons with Victor McMahon in 1957 at Eastwood Primary School. In 1962 he changed to oboe. At that time there was no oboe teacher at the N.S.W. Conservatorium so Victor McMahon continued to teach Graham as an oboe student.

In 1968 Graham commenced the diploma course at the Conservatorium studying oboe with Guy Henderson and composition with Raymond Hanson. At this time Graham wrote many pieces for fellow student, flautist Roger Armstrong who is now co-principal flute with the B.B.C. Welsh Orchestra.

After graduating in 1970, Graham was appointed to the Conservatorium staff in 1971 and taught there for twenty years. From 1972 until 1985 he was principal oboist with the Elizabethan Trust Sydney Orchestra. Graham is currently teaching at the Newcastle Conservatorium. In 1982 he was commissioned by The Flute Society to write a flute ensemble piece for the 1982 National Convention. The result wasFour Moods of Pan. At the 9th Australian Flute Convention held in Canberra in 1995, a new piece for flute ensembleDaphnis in Venicewas premiered by the University of Newcastle Conservatorium Flute Choir.

Over the past twenty years his compositions have been written mainly for woodwind instruments and his great sense of humour shows through in the highly imaginative titles of his works.

JEFFREY PRATER (b. 1947)

Jeffrey L. Prater has written of over thirty compositions and has received various grants, awards and commissions for his work. He teaches in the Department of Music at Iowa State University where he is the Associate Head of the Music Theory and Composition Division. Born in 1947 in Endicott, New York, Prater received the Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, the Master of Music degree from Michigan State University, and his baccalaureate degree from Iowa State University. Prater has also been active as a music theorist, specializing in pedagogy, history of theory and translation of theoretical books and treatises from German to English.

STEPHEN PRESTON (b. 1945)

Dr. Stephen Preston is one of the leading musicians in the development of early music performance in the UK and Europe, and one of its most respected figures. Through his ground-breaking work with historical flutes and solo, ensemble, and orchestral performances and recordings, he has established a world-wide reputation and an international career.

As well as playing period music Stephen is also performing and developing new music and contemporary techniques for the baroque flute and a newly developed, 21st century one-keyed flute by the maker Jean-François Beaudin. This year he formed Trio Aporia, a group dedicated to creating a completely new repertoire for flute, viola da gamba, and harpsichord. He also performs with the electroacoustic improvisation ensemble Automatic Writing Circle, which evolved from his Ecosonic Ensemble in collaboration with electroacoustic composer Thomas Gardner. He has developed an approach to improvisation and performance inspired by birdsong, which he calls 'Ecosonics' and was described as 'a genius' after a recent broadcast in which he played the world premiere of a work specially written for him.

The emphasis of Preston's work is always on performance practice as a way of realizing the highest degree of musical potential in the performer. His work as a choreographer of historical dance gives him a unique insight into the dance music of the Baroque and Classical periods. He has many years of experience working with the widest range of students and professional instrumentalists and singers. Stephen Preston's teaching philosophy extends beyond the narrow boundaries of stylistic performance and he is equally successful whether working with period performers or with modern instrumentalists and singers. His favourite project has been to work with one of America's most eminent chamber ensembles, the New Century Saxophone Quartet, on their highly praised recording of Bach's Art of Fugue.

In 2006 the National Flute Association honoured Dr Preston with a Lifetime Achievement Award. References to Preston can be found in the New Grove Dictionary of Music, J. Solum's The Early Flute, and A. Powell's The Flute. Dr Preston teaches in the UK at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and at Trinity College of Music, London. He is widely in demand for master classes and for private teaching and coaching. Visit Stephen's website at http://www.stephenpreston-ecosonics.com.

ROBERT D PRITCHARD II - bio coming soon

BLAZ PUCIHAR (b. 1977)

Pianist Blaž Pucihar started his musical education at the local music school in Vrhnika and was taught by Professors Hinko Haas and Renata Bauer. He continued his education with Professor Janez Lovše at the High School of Music and Ballet Education in Ljubljana and with Professor Dubravka Tomšič- Srebotnjak at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana (Slovenia). He graduated in 1999 with honors.

As a soloist he performed with several orchestras under Marko Munih, Loris Voltolini and Miro Saje. He regularly performs with respected Slovenian and international artists such as Monika Skalar, Matej Zupan, Jože Kotar, Matej Grahek, Susan Milan, Celso Woltzenlogel, Christian Farroni, Giampaolo Pretto and others. As an accompanist he played at the masterclasses of Sophie Cherrier, Susan Milan, Pierre Yves Artaud and Giampaolo Pretto.

Since 1995, he has played with harmonica player Miro Božič. They play classical music in a different way and they released their first CD named "Jaz in ti" in 1998. As a founder and the president of the Tulipan Music Society, he released the CD entitled "Music in Color" with the Tulipan Quartet. He also arranged majority of the pieces on the CD.

In February 2004 he released CD entitled “Movements” with the flutist Ana Kavčič Pucihar featuring also two of his new compositions for flute and piano (4 Little Movements, Prima Sonata). Blaž Pucihar currently works as an accompanist at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana.